<Heading1 id="content">Golden Rules</Heading1>

The Golden Rules encompass all of {props.SITE_NAME} and the {props.SITE_NAME} IRC network. These rules are paramount; non-compliance will jeopardize your account.

<Heading2 id="1.1">1.1. One account per person, per lifetime</Heading2>

Users are allowed one account per lifetime. If your account is disabled, contact staff in <a href={props.TG_DISBALE_CHANNEL}>offical Telegram disabled group</a> or [Staff PM](staffpm.php). Never make another account, you will be disabled without question.

<Heading2 id="1.2">1.2. Do not trade, sell, give away, or offer accounts</Heading2>

If you no longer wish to use your account, send a [Staff PM](staffpm.php) and request that your account be disabled.

<Heading2 id="1.3">1.3. Do not share accounts</Heading2>

Accounts are for personal use only. Granting access to your account in any way (e.g., shared login details, external programs) is prohibited. [Invite](wiki.php?action=article&name=invite) friends or direct them to our <a href={props.TG_GROUP}>official Telegram group</a>.

<Heading2 id="1.4">1.4. Do not let your account become inactive</Heading2>

You agree to log into the site regularly in order to keep your account in good standing. Failure to do so will result in your account being disabled. See [Account Inactivity](wiki.php?action=article&id=11) for more information.

<Heading2 id="2.1">2.1. Do not invite bad users</Heading2>

You are responsible for your invitees. You will not be punished if your invitees fail to maintain required share ratios, but invitees who break golden rules will place your invite privileges and account at risk.

<Heading2 id="2.2">2.2. Do not trade, sell, publicly give away, or publicly offer invites</Heading2>

Only invite people you know and trust. Do not offer invites via other trackers, forums, social media, or other public locations, responding to public invite requests is prohibited. Exception: Staff-designated recruiters may offer invites in approved locations. Be careful not get posts indexed by search engine.

<Heading2 id="2.3">2.3. Do not request invites or accounts</Heading2>

You may visit invite forum of {props.SITE_NAME} when you reach Power User and above. Some trackers only allow offical recruitment, their invites may not be offered or requested on the forums in other trackers. You need to read [Rules on Section of Requesting Invites] and [Do Not Request Invites List](rules.php?p=invite) before you request an invite. You may request invites by messaging users only when they have offered them in the Invites Forum, unsolicited invite requests, even by private message, are prohibited.

<Heading2 id="2.4">2.4. Do not reveal site information in public</Heading2>

Do not mention "{props.SITE_NAME}" in any public area, and do not reveal our site url or tracker url. Please hide our Logo when you capturing a screenshot.

<Heading2 id="3.1">3.1. Do not engage in ratio manipulation</Heading2>

Transferring buffer—or increasing your buffer—through unintended uses of the BitTorrent protocol or site features (e.g., [request abuse](rules.php?p=requests)) constitutes ratio manipulation. When in doubt, send a [Staff PM](staffpm.php) asking for more information.

<Heading2 id="3.2">3.2. Do not report incorrect data to the tracker (i.e., cheating)</Heading2>

Reporting incorrect data to the tracker constitutes cheating, whether it is accomplished through the use of a modified "cheat client" or through manipulation of an approved client.

<Heading2 id="3.3">3.3. Do not use unapproved clients</Heading2>

Your client must be listed on the [Client Whitelist](rules.php?p=clients). You must not use clients that have been modified in any way. Developers interested in testing unstable clients must receive staff approval prior to testing.

<Heading2 id="3.4">3.4. Do not modify {props.SITE_NAME} .torrent files</Heading2>

Embedding non-{props.SITE_NAME} announce URLs in {props.SITE_NAME} .torrents is prohibited. Doing so causes false data to be reported and will be interpreted as cheating. This applies to standalone .torrent files and .torrent files that have been loaded into a client.

<Heading2 id="3.5">3.5. Do not share .torrent files or your passkey</Heading2>

Embedded in each {props.SITE_NAME} .torrent file is an announce URL containing your personal passkey. Passkeys enable users to report stats to the tracker.

<Heading2 id="4.1">4.1. Do not blackmail, threaten, or expose fellow users or staff</Heading2>

Exposing or threatening to expose private information about users for any reason is prohibited. Private information includes, but is not limited to, personally identifying information (e.g., names, records, biographical details, photos). Information that has not been openly volunteered by a user should not be discussed or shared without permission. This includes private information collected via investigations into openly volunteered information (e.g., Google search results).

<Heading2 id="4.2">4.2. Do not scam or defraud</Heading2>

Scams (e.g., phishing) of any kind are prohibited.

<Heading2 id="4.3">4.3. Do not disrespect staff decisions</Heading2>

Disagreements must be discussed privately with the deciding moderator. If the moderator has retired or is unavailable, you may send a [Staff PM](staffpm.php). Do not contact multiple moderators hoping to find one amenable to your cause; however, you may contact a site administrator if you require a second opinion. Options for contacting staff include private message, [Staff PM](staffpm.php), and <a href={props.TG_GROUP}>Telegram Group</a>.

<Heading2 id="4.4">4.4. Do not impersonate staff</Heading2>

Impersonating staff or official service accounts (e.g., Aobing) on-site, off-site, or on IRC is prohibited. Deceptively misrepresenting staff decisions is also prohibited.

<Heading2 id="4.5">4.5. Do not backseat moderate</Heading2>

"Backseat moderation" occurs when users police other users. Confronting, provoking, or chastising users suspected of violating rules&mdash;or users suspected of submitting reports&mdash;is prohibited. Submit a report if you see a rule violation.

<Heading2 id="4.6">4.6. Do not request special events</Heading2>

Special events (e.g., freeleech, neutral leech, picks) are launched at the discretion of the staff. They do not adhere to a fixed schedule, and may not be requested by users.

<Heading2 id="4.7">4.7. Do not harvest user-identifying information</Heading2>

It is prohibited to use {props.SITE_NAME}'s services to harvest user-identifying information of any kind (e.g., IP addresses, personal links) through the use of scripts, exploits, or other techniques.

<Heading2 id="4.8">4.8. Do not use {props.SITE_NAME}'s services (including the tracker, website, and IRC network) for commercial gain</Heading2>

Commercializing services provided by or code maintained by {props.SITE_NAME} (e.g., Gazelle, Ocelot) is prohibited. Commercializing content provided by {props.SITE_NAME} users via the aforementioned services (e.g., user torrent data) is prohibited. Referral schemes, financial solicitations, and money offers are also prohibited.

<Heading2 id="5.1">5.1. Do not browse {props.SITE_NAME} using any free VPN/Proxy service</Heading2>

You may browse the site through a paid VPN/Proxy service, this includes (for example) self-hosted VPNs or proxies, services like NordVPN and VPNs or proxies that come with a seedbox. The use of Tor for browsing the site or seeding is not allowed. You may seed from up to 3 IPs at the same time. When in doubt, please send a [Staff PM](staffpm.php). <Important italic>Update! 2021-06-23</Important>

<Heading2 id="5.2">5.2. Do not abuse automated site access</Heading2>

All automated site access must be done through the [API](https://github.com/WhatCD/Gazelle/wiki/JSON-API-Documentation). API use is limited to 5 requests within any 10-second window. Scripts and other automated processes must not scrape the site's HTML pages. When in doubt, seek advice from staff.

<Heading2 id="5.3">5.3. Do not autosnatch freeleech torrents</Heading2>

The automatic snatching of freeleech torrents using any method involving little or no user-input (e.g., API-based scripts, log or site scraping, etc.) is prohibited. See {props.SITE_NAME}'s [Freeleech Autosnatching Policy](wiki.php?action=article&id=63) article for more information.

<Heading2 id="6.1">6.1. Do not seek or exploit live bugs for any reason</Heading2>

Seeking or exploiting bugs in the live site (as opposed to a local development environment) is prohibited. If you discover a critical bug or security vulnerability, immediately report it in accordance with {props.SITE_NAME}'s [Responsible Disclosure Policy](wiki.php?action=article&id=64). Non-critical bugs can be reported in the [Bugs Forum](forums.php?action=viewforum&forumid=16).

<Heading2 id="6.2">6.2. Do not publish exploits</Heading2>

The publication, organization, dissemination, sharing, technical discussion, or technical facilitation of exploits is prohibited at staff discretion. Exploits are defined as unanticipated or unaccepted uses of internal, external, non-profit, or for-profit services. Exploits are subject to reclassification at any time.

<Heading2 id="7.1">7.1. Be respectful to all staff members</Heading2>

Staff on {props.SITE_NAME} are volunteers who dedicate their time in order to keep the site running, without receiving any compensation. Being disrespectful to them is prohibited, and might result in a warning or worse.

<Heading2 id="7.2">7.2. Staff have the final word on rule interpretations</Heading2>

All rules on {props.SITE_NAME} may be subject to different interpretations. Since the staff wrote these rules, their interpretation is final. If you need clarification on a rule, or if you think a rule should be restated, please send a [Staff PM](staffpm.php).
